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Millthwaite Soap Wiki
High Peak (soap opera) '' High Peak'' (working titles 'Over The Hills' and 'Pendal Bridge'), by Noxy Productions - commonly referred to as simply 'HP' - is a forthcoming rural serial drama set in a fictional Derbyshire village in the real area of High Peak in the Peak District. The concept was originally conceived by Noxy in late 2011, but fellow forum member Gambitt soon formed the 'Gambox' partnership with Noxy in the early stages of the project. The show originally ran twice in 2012, when it was produced by Gambox Productions (first run) and then Noxy Productions (second run) on the Writers Express forum. Despite being instantly successful, the project stalled on both occasions. In late 2013, plans were set in motion to retitle the serial as Pendal Bridge, and relocate it to rural Cumbria. However, these plans were soon withdrawn, and in 2014, both the High Peak ''title and Peak District loaction were duly restored. One of the project's original producers, Noxy, cited a number of reasons for the project's first failure. He is said to have been 'unhappy' with the project, despite it's 'brilliant and genuinely surprising success.' Noxy felt there were serious creative and continuity 'misjudgments' which he felt would have proved 'fatal' further down the line. As such, the first attempt at ''High Peak was scrapped at Episode 36. An Episode 37 was written but was never published. Subsequently, High Peak returned to WX in the autumn of 2012, this time with Noxy acting as sole producer (Noxy Productions), Gam having bowed out. However it stalled again a couple of months later (this time at Episode 30), but for different reasons: Noxy was already committed to several other projects and 'something had to give'. He lated revealed that he still felt it was right to pull it a second time, stating that it gave him 'real time to reflect on High Peak in detail, without the pressure of having to get it back on air like last time.' As a result, he found 'there was still a lot of work to do' to make High Peak 'stand up and stand out. So I kind of went back to the drawing board and completely reassessed what I wanted High Peak to be and how I wanted it to work. An enormous amount of work has been put into it and soon, it will be ready to launch once again!' Noxy has said this will be his third and final attempt at the project. 'One failure is unlucky, two is ominous, but three means it's not meant to be.' The show will actually be set in the future, with Episode 1 real-time scheduled for Monday 13th July 2015. About High Peak is a rural serial drama set in the fictional Derbyshire village of Miller, so-called because of Derbyshire's Victoria trade of milling and miller. The village is said to be located halfway between Manchester and Sheffield, placing it in the proximity of Buxton. Miller is a village west of the equally fictitious market town of Malrith. A neighbouring fictional village to the east of Malrith, called Wolvedere, is also referenced in episodes of the show, usually disparagingly. The surnames of the show's characters are often but not always named after real-life Derbyshire towns and villages - for example, Sheldon, Rowland and Bridgemont are all Derbyshire villages. High Peak itself is described as a mixture of both working class and middle class trials and tribulations. It's picturesque, rural northern setting has drawn comparisons to ITV soap Emmerdale. ''However, Noxy disputes this. 'Inevitably, a rural Northern soap opera will always be compared to ''Emmerdale. However, the tone and the scenarios presented by High Peak are really very different. For a start - and this was a conscious decision from the outset - there is no farm or farming element at all. Instead, the central focus is on the holiday village, Chalet Peaks. There will also be other rural elements in the show such as hiking and horseriding. These don't really feature in Emmerdale, which despite Emmerdale's glorious surroundings, play second fiddle somewhat to all the melodrama. With HP though, I'm aiming to strike a balance between settings and plots, to the point where one barely exists without the other. HP ''is also a somewhat gentler animal; not twee, as that's TV death! But generally more laidback and down-to-earth than a lot of other soaps. If people are expecting the controversial grit of ''These Days ''or serial killing psychos a la ''Emmerdale, I'm afraid they will be disappointed! High Peak is a very family-oriented show, with a broad range of plots and characters aimed at a broad audience, and while at times its stories will raise a few eyebrows, it's not a controversial show per se. All storylines will be handled with subtlety and often with humour, something British soaps can lack nowadays.' 'But actually, the biggest challenge will be making it stand out. It can't be like Emmerdale, or These Days, or any British or Australian soap. I don't mean in terms of plots, as most soaps do the same type of plots. It's more the vibe, the feeling, that magic that makes you want to tune in - that's what will make or break High Peak. Or any soap, for that matter!' Changes Noxy has stated that for the third and final attempt at High Peak under his stewardship, he wants to strike the right balance between old and new. 'I want fans to feel like they are coming back to something that is familiar, but also noticeably different to before. And for total newbies, it will be something completely fresh and original. It really is a balancing act. I want HP to feel homely and traditional, but still modern and fresh. A bit of something for everybody sort of thing. There are more families this time round and they are more diverse. There are some completely new characters, some characters have switched families, and some families, like the Bridgemonts, are entirely new. The show will be mid-paced most of the time. There were complaints from some quarters originally that the pacing of High Peak ''was too slow and the episodes repetitive. I'm determined not to allow that to happen this time. There are also some new sets such as ''Hike Peak ''- which is a hiking business, surprise surprise! - and the way certain characters and storylines developed before will be done a little differently or in more detail than last time. This is to ensure that first and/or second-timers don't feel like they are just watching the same thing as before, and newbies are getting stories and characters which have been improved. So this isn't exactly what it was, but at the same time it has that essence.' Table of Changes Below is a list of some of the key name changes for ''High Peak: Other changes In some cases, new characters have been added or removed from families; some were present in the 1st but not the 2nd version of High Peak; and some are entirely new additions. Some of the key character changes: *'Courtney McIntyre' - Courtney was a Kaminski in the first version of High Peak, but she did not appear in the second version. She is now an additional child of the McIntyre/Nicholls/Sawley family, the only fully biolgical child of engaged long-term couple Neil (formerly Eddie) and Gill (formerly Linda) *'The Waltons' - formerly the Kaminskis. Lewis is now known as Eddie. Dylan has been added as a younger, third child of the family. Mark was an Aston and previously dated Marissa, but now they are siblings as Noxy felt that 'they had a chemistry previously, but it wasn't sexual'! *'The Astons' - in the previous incarnations of High Peak, the character of Katie was dead, but now exists alive. Kieran is a new character. Their daughter Izzy is now known as Sydney and Katie will shortly give birth to a son *'The Rowlands' - in previous versions of the project, their son Luke was an adopted orphan, however he is now a fully biological child of the family. Their daughter Molly is also slightly older - 17 rather than 16, as is Luke - 15 rather than 14. The Rowlands basic backstory has not changed greatly, the only significant difference being that in HPV2'', the family were newcomers to the village having relocated from Oxford, whereas now they are returning to the village they once lived in after a sever-year stint in Oxford *'The Sheldons''' - previously 14-year-old daughter Jaimee has been aged up to 15. Nick is now known as Dan, and his parents Bob and Hilary are now called John and Helen. All three characters were previously Londoners, but are now 'Northern' *'The Singhs' - in contrast to High Peak, the Singhs will not be original characters who appear from the outset, instead making their first appearance later on, and in stages *'Leon Fairfield '- ostensibly Leon was previously Tom Rowland; however the character has been renamed Leon and has switched from the Sheldons to the Fairfields as an additional child to that family *'Flick Fairfield' - an HPV2 character, she was blind in that version but not in this *'Dr. Graham' - fiftysomething Dr. Graham replaces thirtysomething Dr. Philip Youlgreave, however the character will still be a recurring one like Youlgreave was Current Cast Character Count Category:About Category:Browse